Trump’s Tariff Threat Sparks Global Race to Get Copper to the U.S.

The world’s top commodity traders are rushing to ship copper to the U.S. from as far afield as Asia as Donald Trump’s threat of import tariffs on the metal creates a huge opportunity for profit.

The gap between copper prices in the U.S. and the rest of the world widened sharply after the president on February 25 ordered the Commerce Department to examine potential levies on the metal. Prices on New York’s Comex surged as much as 4.9% on February 26, to trade more than $1,000 a ton above the London Metal Exchange benchmark, which rose 1.2% to about $9,500 a ton.

Glencore Plc and Trafigura Group have been prominent among trading houses who’ve been moving to ship copper to the U.S. market in recent weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. The bulk of their cargoes are coming from South America, but they’ve also made inquiries about shipping out copper from Asian warehouses tracked by the London Metal Exchange, some of the people said. Spokespeople for Glencore and Trafigura declined to comment.

The threat of tariffs has created a compelling opportunity for profit for traders, according to several people involved in the market: U.S. copper pri…